Tonight Microsoft will hold a press conference in Japan announcing upcoming games. While we’re waiting to hear about the future of the Xbox 360 let’s take a look at their abandoned past.
 
Along with True Fantasy Online Live Microsoft developed and canceled another Japanese developed online game. Fishing Live Online was a multiplayer fishing game [...]

Ubisoft pulled the rug under Paris based Darkworks who was developing I Am Alive. This happened to the studio before back in 2002 too when they were working with Capcom on an action game called Lost Mantis. While Darkworks was the developer the intellectual property looked like it would be Capcom’s since they registered [...]

AIA USA, the company that published Illbleed in North America, attempted in to introduce North America to Rent a Hero No.1 about four years ago. In the Rent a Hero series you play as Taro, a hired hero that can be rented to solve the town’s problems. When Taro is not finding lost children [...]

Sega is finally pulling the plug on the Xbox version of Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II in Japan. The last day online play will be available is January 31, 2008, five years after the initial launch date. When this happens Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst Episode IV will be the only version of [...]

Straight from Austin's Game Developer Conference there is an excellent summary of Hiromichi Tanaka’s keynote speech. Way back in 1999 when he was working on Final Fantasy XI there was a version planned for the original Xbox. However, the original Xbox specs only included a 2GB hard drive, which left no room for expansion packs. [...]

Way after I thought all hope was lost for Xbox 360 backwards compatibility, Mike over from Deeko News dropped a jaw dropping tip (thanks!) that two of my favorite Xbox titles Panzer Dragon Orta and Jet Set Radio are backwards compatible. That’s not all though! The long list of backwards compatible titles also includes:
 
Tenku (Japan [...]

Bungie and Certain Affinity are going to release a Halo 2 map pack with two additional maps Desolation and Tombstone are being sold for $4. The first set of screenshots are from Desolation and you can see more pictures past the break.
 

A game where you run around an island shooting dinosaurs with tranquilizers seems like a game that would sell in North America, but Dinosaur Hunting was actually one of the few games developed for Japan. It was made by Scarab who vanished after finishing their work on the project. In 2003 Dinosaur Hunting came out [...]

If you can’t get enough Grand Theft Auto games get ready to go to Pacific City in Crackdown. Microsoft’s GTA inspired game is actually created by David Jones who worked on the Grand Theft Auto series. The difference between Crackdown and Saint’s Row or GTA is that you’re an agent of "justice". Wait that’s been [...]

Remember that rumored Xbox 360 backwards compatibility update we posted a few days earlier? It was real and there are a couple extra games on the list. Conker: Live and Reloaded was long due for backwards compatibility and it just made the list. There are also a couple of surprises for Japanese Xbox 360 owners. [...]